+9640News Posted February 19, 2018 Share Posted February 19, 2018 Some of you all may know John Carver. If you are part of the Geneve 9640 group on Yahoo, he is a guy in his 70's and has faced multiple hardships in his life. He is living in some of the roughest living arrangements one can imagine. Much of his power comes from solar and batteries. Most all of his food used to be from his gardening until he lost too many toes to frostbite and could not work the garden anymore. Now, he is lucky to make a single trip out of his wooded area once a month and may go several weeks before he sees anyone. His Geneve monitor went out a couple of years ago and his ability to use the Geneve is not there. I hope to be able to solve that issue for him. Turns out, he lives just a couple hours west of me. Anyways, if you are following the message threads and/or want to help out in any way on the Geneve group, I am sure he would be thrilled with any assistance we can muster up. Even if you have some floppy diskettes of stuff over the past couple of years you can put on a floppy and send to me so I can take to him, I am sure it would be appreciated. I am posting this over here on Atariage as I think his only communication with the TI world is on Yahoo and I want any extra assistance to be a surprise for him. I should be able to come up with a substantial amount of food for him as I have a connection to a group providing food for those that need help. Anyways, I am open to ideas and thoughts to help this true TI'er out. Beery 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+jedimatt42 Posted February 19, 2018 Share Posted February 19, 2018 Geneve's can sell for quite a bit on ebay. Given the sound of his life situation, holding on to it might not be in his best interest. -M@ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ksarul Posted February 19, 2018 Share Posted February 19, 2018 John's Geneve is one of his few true hobby loves. Having it functional again would keep him enjoying life until he's no longer of this world, so that makes it really important in my eyes. Unfortunately, I don't have a spare RGBA monitor, or I'd send it on--but let me know what help you need and I'll see what I can doo Beery. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickyDean Posted February 19, 2018 Share Posted February 19, 2018 John's Geneve is one of his few true hobby loves. Having it functional again would keep him enjoying life until he's no longer of this world, so that makes it really important in my eyes. Unfortunately, I don't have a spare RGBA monitor, or I'd send it on--but let me know what help you need and I'll see what I can doo Beery. Keeping up with his and Beery's conversation in yahoo. Seems like he really doesn't want the help, but a cheap composite monitor or a small flat screen tv with the scart mod would probably suffice, about 17 to 19 inchs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ksarul Posted February 19, 2018 Share Posted February 19, 2018 I don't think that John ever even thinks to ask for help, based on every encounter I've had with him over the last 20 years or so. He does his best to be as self-reliant as possible, but he does appreciate help when it shows up on its own. And I agree that the small 17-19 inch flat screen with a SCART input (and the necessary SCART to Geneve cable) would be a perfect solution here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+9640News Posted February 19, 2018 Author Share Posted February 19, 2018 Well, I have no problem giving up my existing Geneve monitor if I can get a scart of decent size for my existing system. I'm going to check the other thread about the scart and see where Chris is and his recommendations, etc. Beery Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+9640News Posted February 19, 2018 Author Share Posted February 19, 2018 If nothing else, since he at least has Windows XP with plenty of disk space, I can copy MESS to a flash drive. Will have to step back to something in the 2003 timeframe, but the version back then I uploaded to whtech I think is still around. That would get him up and going. I got similar push back from John 25 years ago when he came aboard onto Genie. He's a good guy. Beery 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+arcadeshopper Posted February 24, 2018 Share Posted February 24, 2018 I emailed him (before Beery got started on the yahoo group with him) and offered him a free monitor. He refused saying "thank you for the offer but I'm too old to be beholding to anyone anymore." I have a samsung 910mp here with his name on it. It'll do RF VGA SCART-RGB15hz and tv.. he can even watch tv with it if he wants and has a digital tuner, which I can throw in too. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+9640News Posted April 4, 2018 Author Share Posted April 4, 2018 OK, I was successful in reaching out to John yesterday and have both his phone and address. Over the next few weeks, I will begin putting together food and other stuff for him to take his way by the end of May. This should give people plenty of time if they want to ship something my way so I can take to him. If anyone wants to contribute software, hardware, etc., I will give my address below where you can send things my direction and I will make sure it gets his way. I could really use some assistance if someone has the time to put together software for both the Windows side of things as well as on the Geneve side of things. With the Geneve, it would be a floppy only system. I would not plan on anything above DS/SD for a basic non-expanded Geneve. With the Windows side of things, he has a Pentium system with Windows XP. If someone wanted to build a MESS system with HD image for him with some of the latest software, I am sure he would be appreciative. I would have suggested MAME, but with his hardware, I think it would be too slow for him. In speaking with John, he has such an old Browser on the XP system that websites like Amazon and PayPal refuse to acknowledge so he can not order stuff like medicines, etc. online anymore. If there are current browsers that would support Windows XP, point me to the software and I will download for John. If not, and someone can set up a PI system with Raspian to use a dial-up modem to connect to the internet, I will give John my Raspberry PI and get another one for myself. I would just need the image to get things going for John and a recommendation for a USB to serial cable for the dial up modem. In talking with John yesterday, I learned he promised to his wife as she was dying in his arms, he would take care of the step children. They are not much better off than he is, and he has much of their "stuff" overwhelming his residence. John's wife was his life, however he cautioned about making some death-bed promises. He is living up to those very difficult challenges as best as he can that he promised to his wife. I know there are challenges with the step daughter, no details. The step son's wife passed away years ago forcing the son to quit work so he could take care of a severely disabled child requiring a nursing assistant at the son's place. Basically, while the nurse was there, that was when the son would sleep or run out and do errands, and then be back home for the other 16 hours to take care of the girl. The daughter eventually passed away I think he said 17 years later after the son's wife had passed. By that time, employment opportunities were not all that great afterwards. The son could have done more for employment, but didn't. Not going to judge the son, as I have not walked in his shoes. I have not seen his place, but his description sounds of his place sounds like a bit on the hoarding mentality. He indicated he would swap out his non-working normal size refrigerator, however, there is no clear path to get it out. He basically has trails in his home to put things into perspective. While talking with John who is in his 70's, his knowledge and his strong voice, one would have thought you were talking to a much younger man. Very very strong voice. Anyways, if you want to send stuff my way so I can deliver to John, here is my contact information: Beery Miller 364 Lake Road Campbellsburg, KY 40011 (713) 204-7752 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OLD CS1 Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 Chrome and Firefox will support Windows XP, but only for a short time. Could he make use of a replacement computer running Windows 7 or 10? I have retired customer workstations I can put together for him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+9640News Posted April 4, 2018 Author Share Posted April 4, 2018 Chrome and Firefox will support Windows XP, but only for a short time. Could he make use of a replacement computer running Windows 7 or 10? I have retired customer workstations I can put together for him. I'm sure he could make use of a replacement computer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OLD CS1 Posted April 5, 2018 Share Posted April 5, 2018 I'm sure he could make use of a replacement computer. Okay, consider it done. I will put it together over the next week and ship it off to you. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+9640News Posted April 5, 2018 Author Share Posted April 5, 2018 Okay, consider it done. I will put it together over the next week and ship it off to you. Thanks! Beery Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+arcadeshopper Posted April 5, 2018 Share Posted April 5, 2018 I still have that lcd for him.. pm me info to ship we'll need a geneve SCART cable once those are done, but it'll work composite in the meantime I can throw in a composite cable as well Greg 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+9640News Posted April 5, 2018 Author Share Posted April 5, 2018 Okay, consider it done. I will put it together over the next week and ship it off to you. I've got a USB modem I will add so he can go that route to get onto the internet versus using what I expect is a very old modem. Beery Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OLD CS1 Posted April 5, 2018 Share Posted April 5, 2018 I've got a USB modem I will add so he can go that route to get onto the internet versus using what I expect is a very old modem. Beery Perfect. Is that modem supported in Windows 10? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+9640News Posted April 5, 2018 Author Share Posted April 5, 2018 Perfect. Is that modem supported in Windows 10? Yes, the modem is Windows 10 compatible. I bought it about a year ago thinking I would use MESS/MAME to transfer files to it from BBS's, but then when another direction with the Lantronix/Telnet and WiModem2/WIFI/Telnet setups. And, since he will have a Windows 10 system, I will set him up with the latest MAME which means I can copy my HD images over to it. Not sure what kind of disk capacity the drive has, but if need be, I will drop a second hard drive into it if needed and may do a FTP dump of whtech so everything would all be present. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OLD CS1 Posted April 5, 2018 Share Posted April 5, 2018 I have a 240GB Intel 540 SSD to install. I also have a couple of spinning rust drives (500GB WD RAID Editions) and I can put one in, if that will help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+9640News Posted April 5, 2018 Author Share Posted April 5, 2018 I have a 240GB Intel 540 SSD to install. I also have a couple of spinning rust drives (500GB WD RAID Editions) and I can put one in, if that will help. I would think 240 GB is more than enough for him. That should easily handle a bootable system, MAME, as well as all of whtech. Beery Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+9640News Posted April 20, 2018 Author Share Posted April 20, 2018 Just a reminder/tickler for some folks that have indicated they would send me some items for John. Beery Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OLD CS1 Posted April 20, 2018 Share Posted April 20, 2018 I apologize. I hurt my foot a couple of weeks ago and have not been able to get around well enough. I have it sitting right here on my bench and will work on it when I get back from VCF. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+9640News Posted April 20, 2018 Author Share Posted April 20, 2018 Thanks. Not a problem as it is not until later in May before I go to John's place. I just wanted to keep things fresh in people's minds! And, FYI, you were not the only one moving slowly <grin>. On a side note, I have had issues with one of my feet as well, but not anything from a known injury. Just pain that has slowed me down a bit. I guess "old age" and too many rough landings on my feet. Beery Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+arcadeshopper Posted April 20, 2018 Share Posted April 20, 2018 Sending mine today Greg 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+9640News Posted April 20, 2018 Author Share Posted April 20, 2018 Sending mine today Greg Great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OLD CS1 Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 Okay, I have a Core-i3 with 4GB RAM and a 240GB SSD, loaded with Windows 10 (upgraded from 8.1.) I can put more RAM in if you think he'll need it, otherwise I will find a proper box in the next couple of days and ship. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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